Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced yesterday that Washington had proposed the first face-to-face negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in six months, as diplomats met in Miami to restart talks to end the war.
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev arrived yesterday in the Florida city, where Ukrainian and European representatives are already present, as are US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner as mediators.
Zelensky said that “as far as I know, Washington has proposed the following format: Ukraine-US-Russia,” adding that European representatives could also be present.
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“It would be logical to hold such a joint meeting as soon as we become aware of the possible outcomes of the meetings that have already been held,” the Ukrainian president said.
On Friday, Witkoff and Kushner met near Miami with Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and representatives from France, the United Kingdom and Germany.
The participation of Russians and Europeans in these talks in Florida represents an advance compared to the previous phase in which the US held separate negotiations with each party in different locations.
“Road to Miami,” Dmitriev wrote in a message on his X account, accompanied by a dove of peace emoji and a short video of the sun shining through the clouds in front of a beach.
“As warmongers continue to work to undermine the US peace plan for Ukraine, I was reminded of this video from my last visit – the light shining through the clouds,” the Russian representative wrote.
However, it is unlikely that Dmitriev will speak directly to Ukrainian and European negotiators as proposals still differ.
Moscow, which launched its offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, does not view the involvement of Kiev’s European allies positively and sees them as an obstacle to peace.
More than a month ago, the United States proposed a plan to end the war. The original text, which was broadly viewed by Ukraine and its European partners as favorable to the Kremlin’s demands, has since been revised following consultations with Kyiv.
The details of the new version are not known, but according to Zelensky, it involves territorial concessions by Ukraine in exchange for Western security guarantees.
No pressure. The head of US diplomacy, Marco Rubio, stressed that despite his administration’s efforts, Washington has no intention of imposing peace. “We cannot force Ukraine to an agreement. We cannot force Russia to an agreement. They have to want an agreement,” emphasized Rubio, who wants to take part in the talks in his hometown of Miami.
This year, Russian troops have accelerated their gains on the Ukrainian front, where they control about 19% of the territory. Yesterday Russia announced the capture of two cities in the Ukrainian regions of Sumi and Donetsk.
At the same time, Ukraine claimed to have destroyed two Russian fighter jets at an airfield on the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
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